Personal Development: Steps to Care for Your Emotional, Physical, and Spiritual Health

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. – 2 Corinthians 5:17

Life is a constant process of growing, changing, facing challenges, overcoming obstacles, and trying to trust God’s plan even when everything around you feels overwhelming and uncertain. When relationships are on edge, He is present.

When jobs are overwhelming, He is there. When life feels like a merry-go-round that will not stop spinning, He is holding your hair back and comforting you through the emotional motion sickness of life.

Personal Development Steps

It is important to do a heart check from time-to-time and take steps to ensure emotional, physical, and spiritual health for your own personal development and growth. Emotional, physical, and spiritual health is the three-fold cord to living life to the fullest.

Consider taking the following personal development steps to ensure your emotional, physical, and spiritual heart health:

Rid anxiety daily

When faced with overwhelming bills, work tasks, parenting struggles, marital disagreements, or other uncertainties – it is important to renew your mind daily. Take things one day at a time. Pay each bill as you can. Talk through each issue with your spouse one at a time. Tackle one thing at a time on your overwhelming to-do list.

Work on one thing at a time with your child. When we tackle life with an “I have to fix everything right now” mindset, everything can become too overwhelming, which makes it difficult to focus on even one thing. Life is a constant process of working through things – do not let the day-to-day things take hold of your mind.

Read Scripture and talk to God

To live life to the fullest, our spirits should be intertwined with the Holy Spirit. He fills our cup when we are running on empty. He guides and directs us when we are unsure of how to handle conflict. He convicts our hearts when we need to apologize to our spouses.

He pushes us out of our comfort zones and takes us on adventures that are far beyond anything we could ever imagine. It is important to take time to read Scripture and pray. Talking to Him and using the Bible as your road map for life is the key to constantly bettering yourself – because they guide you and direct you on the best path possible.

Reading Scripture and talking to God pushes you to ask questions, help others, tell others about Jesus, and to use your God-given talents.

Get involved in a Bible Study

Getting involved in a Bible study is a great way to connect with other Christians and challenge your thought process. Community is an important aspect of self-improvement because it pushes you to think beyond your own life and your own circumstances – it pushes you to hear other stories, other people’s struggles, and to journey arm-in-arm with other believers.

Find an accountability partner

In life, we mustn’t try to navigate difficult times by ourselves. We must turn to God and have someone who can hold us accountable. It is important that you find an accountability partner who encourages you, supports your beliefs, challenges your thinking, and helps you live your life to your full God-given potential. This could be your spouse, a best friend, a parent, or a sibling. Someone who wants to journey the ups and downs of life with you.

Date your spouse

To live life to the fullest, it is important to prioritize the relationship with your spouse. It is important to constantly step out of your comfort zones together, grow spiritually, hold one another accountable, and have fun together! You must take the time to date your spouse. Be romantic. Be spontaneous. Hold hands. Kiss goodnight. Have tickle fights.

Remember that physical health matters

While it is important for self-improvement to grow emotionally and spiritually, we must not neglect the physical body that God has given us. It is imperative to your overall health to drink water, sleep, exercise, and eat healthily. The mind, body, and spirit must also receive adequate nutrition, so you are heart-healthy in every way.

Always learn something new

If you want to constantly grow, then you need to be willing to constantly learn. Read your Bible, learn a new skill, read books, join a peer support group, play a sport, serve on a ministry team. To grow as individuals and Christians, we need to be willing to live life out of our comfort zone. We need to be willing to try new things, talk to new people, and love others in new ways.

Use your talents

We often forget that our talents and abilities are from God – a gift used to honor Him and grow in our relationship with Him. Using our talents can also be used as a vessel to get to know other people and tell them about Christ. Whether your talent is singing, writing, coaching, encouraging, mentoring, or organizing – your talents can be used for God’s glory

It is how we use our talents and abilities that matter most. Is your heart in it? You can worship God as you sing, clean toilets, coach 5-year-olds on the soccer field, mow the grass at your church, or organize a food drive for the local women’s shelter. Are you using your talents and abilities or are you letting them hide in the glove box of your heart? It might be time to step out of your comfort zone – you will not regret it.

Help others

Charles Spurgeon said, “A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.” How we love and serve others is our legacy, not the car we drive or how big our house is. Our hearts should be sewn with strings of kindness and compassion rather than focused on worldly accolades and hidden agendas.

Form healthy relationships

If you want emotional heart-health, you must form healthy relationships free of hidden agendas or harsh words that are constantly spewed back and forth. Healthy relationships consist of good communication, trust, honesty, and being there for one another when your heart-health is in rare form or top-performance form. Healthy relationships are not self-seeking but resemble the heart of Christ.

Rid past hurts

To move forward in life, you must be willing to address past hurts. You must be willing to apologize when you have wronged someone else. You must be willing to address the scars of the past. Ridding past hurts does not mean forgetting them – it means you no longer let them control you.

If you feel trapped in the past, unsure of how to move forward, unaware of why something feels like it is missing in your life – seeing a professional counselor can help you address your concerns and move forward, living your life to the fullest. If something is holding you back or holding you down today, know that it does not have to be this way forever.

Take some time today to journal your thoughts and the things for which you are thankful. Take it one step further and write some things down that you can begin doing today to live out your God-given potential.

Can you sign up for the praise team at church? Can you bake pies for the shut-ins? Can you write cards to those who are hospitalized? Can you coach or mentor someone? Can you invest in a new relationship? Can you grow in your relationship with your spouse? Have you reached out to check on your friends lately? Change begins today!

John Piper said it well, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”

Scripture for Daily Encouragement

If you’re looking for Bible verses to encourage your personal development and spiritual growth, here are some of our favorites:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. – Proverbs 3:5-6

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28

Casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. – 1 Peter 5:7

I can do all things through him who strengthens me. – Philippians 4:13

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. – Ephesians 6:11

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. – 2 Peter 3:18

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. – Joshua 1:9

Christian Counseling for Personal Development

Looking for more personal development help beyond this article? We invite you to browse our online counselor directory to find a counselor who can meet your individual needs, then contact us today to schedule an appointment. We look forward to hearing from you!